Electrical connector unit with snap-in fastener means



Sept. 13, 1966 s. J. KROL 3,273,104

ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR UNIT WITH SNAP-IN FASTENER MEANS Filed July 21, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet l Inn 2 rzfo r BX J 'QAhJ MJ S. J. KROL.

Sept. 13, 1966 ELECTRICAL CONNECTOR UNIT WITH SNAP-IN FASTENER MEANS Filed July 21, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig.4

Inventor jH'korneg United States Patent 3,273,104 ELECTRICAL CONNEETOR UNIT WITH SNAP-IN FASTENER MEANS Stanley J. Krol, Chicago, Ill., assignor to United-Carr, Incorporated Filed July 21, 1964, Ser. No. 384,116 1 Claim. (Cl. 33912$) The present invention relates to a receptacle and more specifically it relates to an improved electrical receptacle for rapid, easy mounting in a chassis opening.

It has been and is the general practice in the art in aflixing male electrical contact members, or the like, to a chassis body to first mount said contact on a metal cased connector body mounted on a laminated phenolic base. The phenolic base then is riveted, bolted, screwed, or otherwise rigidly aflixed to the chassis to define mounting and support means for the contact elements. It can readily be seen that this involves several steps in assembly and manufacture of the connectors not only in provision of the connectors themselves but also in affixing the same to the chassis of the television set, radio or other electrical or electronic equipment.

The present invention relates to an improved electrical receptacle in which contact elements are quickly and easily mounted, that is readily adapted for automatic processing and that may rapidly and easily be inserted within a chassis opening to aflix the receptacle with respect to said chassis. All of the actions are of a snapin character. That is, the contact elements are inserted into contact receiving openings in the receptacle and when fully inserted therein are retained in position by outward flexure of spring-like members on said contact elements. The receptacle itself is mounted in the chassis by inserting it into the chassis opening. When the receptacle is fully inserted, flexible ears extending from the sidewalls of the receptacle move outwardly to abut against one face of the chassis and the flange on the receptacle abuts against the opposite side of the chassis thereby aflixing the receptacle with respect to the chassis with rapid and easy insertion thereof.

It is, therefore, a general object of the present invention to provide an improved chassis mounted receptacle.

A further object of the present invention resides in the provision of an improved receptacle that may rapidly and easily be mounted in a chassis.

Another object of the present invention resides in the provision of an improved receptacle for rapid and easy mounting within a chassis wherein the mounting action involves insertion of the receptacle in the chassis opening with locking action occurring automatically upon full insertion of the receptacle.

A still further object of the present invention resides in the provision of an improved receptacle wherein the contact elements are easily and quickly affixed therein.

An additional object of the present invention resides in the provision of an improved chassis mounted receptacle having flexible means for rapid positioning and mounting of said receptacle which is economical to manufacture, easy to use and which is durable in structure and adapted for storage in a casual manner awaiting use.

The novel features which are believed to be characteristic of the invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, together with further objects and advantages thereof, will best be understood by reference to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of the receptacle of the present invention at approximately twice the scale of one actual embodiment and showing contact elements mounted therein;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the receptacle of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an end view of the receptacle showing the projecting flexible ears and schematically illustrating the positioning of the receptacle within the chassis opening by cooperative action of the ears and the flange;

FIGURE 4 is a bottom view of the receptacle of FIG- URE 1;

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view of the receptacle of the present invention taken along lines 5-5 of FIGURE 2 but without the contact element; and

FIGURE 6 is a view like FIGURE 5 but with the flexible ears disposed inwardly as they would be during insertion of the receptacle into the chassis opening.

Referring more particularly now to the figures, the receptacle of the present invention is indicated generally at It). The receptacle 10 is defined, in part, by a walled structure having four upstanding adjoining walls 12, 13, 14 and 15, respectively, to define the box-like member. The walled structure defining the receptacle is open at opposite faces 18 and 20 with the face 18 being circumscribed by an outwardly extending flange 22. Two opposed walls 12 and 14 have interruptions 24 and 26, and 28 and 30, respectively at spaced intervals along their length. The flange member 22, likewise, defines interruptions 24a, 26a, 28a and 30a at spaced intervals thereabout, said flange interruptions being in registration with the interruptions in the two opposed wall elements 12 and 14. The interruptions 24, 26, 28 and 30 of the walls 12 and 14 and the registering interruptions 24a, 26a, 28a and 30a of the flange 22 define openings extending continuously from the flange 22 down into the body of the walls 12 and 14 and terminating short of the full wall dimension.

Flexible ear members 34, 36, 38 and 40 are mounted within the openings in walls 12 and 14 of the receptacle, as defined by the interruptions and noted hereinabove. One ear member is mounted within each opening, that is, ear member 36 is mounted within the opening defined by the interruptions 26 and 26a of the wall 12 and flange 22, respectively, with other car members being mounted in similar manner. The ear members are affixed at one end to the lower terminal of the openings defined within the receptacle with the other end of each being disposed nearer the flange 22 and defining a free terminal. In practice, the receptacle may be injection molded and formed of nylon, or other suitable dielectric material with similar physical characteristics (i.e., elastic properties, thermal properties, durometer hardness, etc.). In this manner the wall sections, flange and ear members are integrally molded to define a completed, integral, unitary member and wherein the ears are integrally joined to the lower terminals of the openings defined by the wall interruptions. Each ear member includes -a narrow portion at the point of insertion of the ear and the lower terminals of the wall openings and flares smoothly outwardly to define portions of increasing width extending toward the free terminals thereof, with the maximum width being defined at said free terminal. Preferably the ear members are molded such that the back face (facing inwardly of the receptacle) is flush with the inner wall face of the walls 12, 13, 14 and 15, respectively. The outer portion of the ear flares from the affixed portions thereof outwardly and away from the outer surface of the walls and reaches a maximum spaced dimension at the free terminal where the outermost point of projection of the ears lies in a plane which includes the outermost peripheral point of the flange 22 and is parallel to the adjacent wall section of the receptacle. It can readily be seen that if the material from which the receptacle is molded has suitable elastic properties the cars 34, 36, 38 and 40 may readily be flexed inwardly of said receptacle to permit the receptacle to be inserted into an opening of the same dimension as defined by the walls 12, 13, 14 and 15 of the structure. Such flexure must not, of course, be of such extent to exceed the yield limit of the material for it then will not return to its original position upon full insertion of the receptacle into a chassis opening.

A contact support body 42 extends continuously between end walls 13 and 15 of the receptacle 10 and is integrally cased with the other portions of the receptacle, as defined hereinabove. The body 42 is provided with a plurality of contact receiving openings 44. In the specific illustration of the invention disclosed herein the body 42 is shown to have five staggered openings therein. This provides for flexibility in use in that the receptacle may be employed for a two element connector (the embodiment illustrated) or a three element connector wherein the contact elements would be inserted into the three vacant openings (as illustrated in FIGURES 2 and 4) and the two presently occupied openings would be without contact elements. The contact support body 42 is supported on both sides at about its mid-length position by Webs 46 and 48 extending from the walls 14 and 12, respectively, continuously to the body 42. These webs provide longitudinal rigidity to the body 42 and will minimize deflection of the body and contact elements therein during use.

As seen in FIGURES 2, 4, S and 6, the receptacle defines openings 50 between the body 42 and the adjacent walls thereof. These openings provide a gap for movement of the cars 34, 36, 38 and 40 inwardly of the receptacle during insertion of the receptacle in a chassis opening. The gaps defined by the openings 50 are sufficient to provide for full deflection of the ears to the point where the outermost projection of the ears is at least flush with the outer wall surfaces.

The contact elements C are easily insertable and af fixed in the receptacle of the present invention. The elements C are formed such that spring like elements extend therefrom at spaced intervals therealong equal to the thickness of the contact support body 42. The elements C are inserted into the receptacle by pushing them into the openings 44, contact portion first. The springlike elements near the contact portion are deflected inwardly as they pass through the opening 44 and then spring outwardly when the element is fully inserted within said receptacle opening. The elements S prevent insertion of the contact elements C beyond the full insertion point, said elements S defining the stop position. Thus, elements C are oriented .in the body 42 by the spaced spring-like elements thereon.

Insertion of the receptacle within a chassis opening causes the cars 34, 36, 38 and 40 to be deflected inwardly, as illustrated in the drawing FIGURE 6. The ears extend inwardly until the outermost projecting portions thereof are flush with the outer wall portions, as shown. When the receptacle is fully inserted within the chassis opening (CO, as schematically shown in FIGURE 3) the ears 34, 36, 38 and 40 will return to their static position and move outwardly, as seen in FIGURE 3. In the static position, the ears prevent withdrawal of the receptacle from the opening CO. In this manner the receptacle is positioned with respect to chassis CH in the opening CO by the flange 22 on one side of CH and by the ears 34, 36, 38 and 40 on the other side of chassis CH.

While a specific embodiment of the present invention is shown and described it will, of course, be understood that other modifications and alternative constructions may be used without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. It is intended by the appended claim to cover all such modifications and alternative constructions as fall within their true spirit and scope.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

An electrical connector unit comprising an insulating body member having opposed spaced side walls and opposed spaced end walls, said side walls and end walls defining a hollow wall portion having upper and lower open faces, said side walls adjacent said upper open face having opposed slots therein terminating at points spaced from said lower open face, an outwardly extending flange integral with said side walls and said end walls adjacent said open face, flexible ear elements integrally joined to said side walls and disposed for flexible movement within said slots, the outermost end of each of said ears being spaced from the plane of said flange thereby to engage the opposite surface of a supporting panel from said flange, said body member having a contact supporting element bridging the space between said end walls and integral wth said end walls at points intermediate said upper and lower faces, said contact supporting element being spaced from said ear elements to permit flexure of said ear elements into and out of said hollow wall portion, and metal contact members carried by said contact supporting element.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,113,535 4/1938 Cuno et al. 200168 2,375,891 5/1945 Bolley 200-168 X 2,446,141 7/1948 Parsons 200-168 2,927,988 3/1960 Powell 200159 KATHLEEN H. CLAFFY, Primary Examiner.

H. O. JONES, Assistant Examiner. 

